June 1, 2012

"All eyes across the country are on Wisconsin," Haley said, not because of last year's protests because of what the situation was like three years ago, when there were budget deficits and high unemployment...

"He had the courage to take it on, even when it got ugly, and he never stopped, he never stopped. And when the heat lifted, he lifted right with it," she said.

"We love fighters, fighters who understand when it gets hot, you keep on moving," she said.

Our governor. Female. First generation Indian (the subcontinent) American.Sikh heritage. Accused of adulterous relationships in the campaign. Youngest sitting governor in the US. Successful businesswoman. Took on the state's Republican and Democratic establishments.

Amazingly the Good ole boys and girls of right wing socially conservative bigoted Christian fundamentalist South Carolina elected her governor.

I see Walker is *still* pandering to who he thinks are racist voters by continuing to say "We don't want Wisconsin to become like Milwaukee". A sitting governor bashing the state's largest city, I'm not sure it's ever been done. You're so lucky to have him Wisconsin!

What is this "scandal" and what are the questions? Who is asking them?

From what I can gather, the "scandal" appears to be that as a state legislator Haley pushed for funding that benefited a hospital in her district that she also was connected to either directly or through a foundation.

It was all old news until some guy raised "new questions" the other day. The guy just happens to be on the board of directors of a policy institute chaired by a woman who was bounced by Gov. Haley from her position as a Trustee of the U. of SC.

As a show of support for Barrett, President Obama, who flew almost directly over Madison as he traveled from a fund raiser in Minneapolis to a fund raiser in Chicago at 4:00 this afternoon, looked out the window of the Presidential toilet on Air Force One and waved.

Then he flushed, which unintentionally exposed his true feelings about the Wisconsin recall election.

"We love fighters, fighters who understand when it gets hot, you keep on moving."

-- I am impressed you've made it your whole life without hearing that "things got heated" when people talk about a violent or angry exchange. But, let me tell you, that is a fairly well known expression.

Maybe he just means he doesn't want Wisconsin to mishandle its crime statistics and under report violent crimes or to arrest people for practicing free speech? I mean, those are ways I think Wisconsin shouldn't become like Milwaukee, and I don't even live there.

Why do you find it racist that violent crimes are under reported?

Oh, also: Nikki Haley is not under IRS investigation (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/30/nikki-haley-not-under-irs-investigation_n_1392875.html). The report was started by incompetent journalists who believed anonymous tips because they are incompetent.

Did anyone else in Madison get that odious mailing from the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund (Jane Gellman, treasurer) that lists out you and your neighbors and whether you voted in the last two elections?

Very interesting article from the Wall Street Journal,http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304821304577436462413999718.html

"Public-employee unions in Wisconsin have experienced a dramatic drop in membership—by more than half for the second-biggest union—since a law championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker sharply curtailed their ability to bargain over wages and working conditions.

Wisconsin membership in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees—the state’s second-largest public-sector union after the National Education Association, which represents teachers—fell to 28,745 in February from 62,818 in March 2011, according to a person who has viewed Afscme’s figures. A spokesman for Afscme declined to comment.

Much of that decline came from Afscme Council 24, which represents Wisconsin state workers, whose membership plunged by two-thirds to 7,100 from 22,300 last year.

A provision of the Walker law that eliminated automatic dues collection hurt union membership. When a public-sector contract expires the state now stops collecting dues from the affected workers’ paychecks unless they say they want the dues taken out, said Peter Davis, general counsel of the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission.

In many cases, Afscme dropped members from its rolls after it failed to get them to affirm they want dues collected, said a labor official familiar with Afscme’s figures."

As soon as Walker freed the state workers, most of them fled the union plantation.

The Farmer said..."Courage? How about actually campaigning on restricting collective bargaining rather than dropping it on us 12 and a half seconds after he won. But, then he wouldn't have won."

According to wikipedia, the number one issue in Walker's campaign was that state gov spending had to be reduced and that he would accomplish that by cutting salaries and benefits for state gov workers.

MadisonMan, I got one, and I'm the first name listed! The odd thing is, the list is VERY incomplete; it only lists 11 houses on the block and there are about 30 total.

And it doesn't include all of the adults in the houses it DOES list. My block has a lot of recall signs in front of the houses so I'm pretty sure most people are registered to vote.

Mine is from the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund but it does not mention any candidates and says the intent is to publicize who does and doesn't vote.

Which, to me, is creepier than if it were from one side of the political aisle. I know it's public record, but it's really no one's business but mine whether I vote or not, and, while I think voting is a civic duty, I'd rather that uninformed people stay home and not vote, rather than feeling pressured to vote even if they don't know or care about the issues.

My daily prayer: Please let Scott Walker prevail - for his success means HOPE for states like mine. If Scott Walker goes down, others will be demoralized, and California (and others) will spend into oblivion and bankruptcy.

Scott Walker - and you, the voters of Wisconsin, will show the rest of the nation the way out of the morass.

Isn't it obvious that Asian Indians are marked for racist attacks by Democrats? You would think the brown skin provides protection, but nope. Asian Indians trend Republican and that marks them for "enemy" status.

Did anyone else in Madison get that odious mailing from the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund (Jane Gellman, treasurer) that lists out you and your neighbors and whether you voted in the last two elections?

Petunia said......I know it's public record, but it's really no one's business but mine whether I vote or not, and, while I think voting is a civic duty, I'd rather that uninformed people stay home and not vote, rather than feeling pressured to vote even if they don't know or care about the issues.

I suspect the idea is crowd-source checking for voter fraud. The idea is that when you read the list, you might notice that your neighbor, John Doe, voted in last year's election. That's odd, you think, since John died five years ago. Maybe I should bring this to someone's attention. Likewise for people who have moved away, or more people voting from an address than actually live there.

I'm not saying I wouldn't find it creepy, but I can certainly see a purpose to it.

Gov. Haley is accused of supporting policies that would help her former employer while she was a state legislator. In other words she is accused of being a politician. I don't have any problem with her. She supports what she believes in and I think she is honest.

From what I can gather, the "scandal" appears to be that as a state legislator Haley pushed for funding that benefited a hospital in her district that she also was connected to either directly or through a foundation

Big mistake. What you're supposed to do, if you're a state legislator, is push for funding that benefits a hospital that's given your spouse a highly-paid sinecure.